25 U.S. Code § 2000 - Declaration of policy

Congress declares that the Federal Government has the sole responsibility for the operation and financial support of the Bureau of Indian Affairs funded school system that it has established on or near Indian reservations and Indian trust lands throughout the Nation for Indian children. It is the policy of the United States to fulfill the Federal Government’s unique and continuing trust relationship with and responsibility to the Indian people for the education of Indian children and for the operation and financial support of the Bureau of Indian Affairs-funded school system to work in full cooperation with tribes toward the goal of ensuring that the programs of the Bureau of Indian Affairs-funded school system are of the highest quality and provide for the basic elementary and secondary educational needs of Indian children, including meeting the unique educational and cultural needs of those children.

Chapter effective Jan. 8, 2002, except with respect to certain noncompetitive programs and competitive programs, see section 5 ofPub. L. 107–110, set out as a note under section
6301 of Title
20, Education.

Short Title of 2002 Amendment

Pub. L. 107–110, title X, § 1041,Jan. 8, 2002, 115 Stat. 2007, provided that: “This part [part D (§§ 1041–1045) of title X of Pub. L. 107–110, enacting this chapter and sections
2501 to
2511 of this title, amending section
13d–2 of this title, and repealing former sections
2501 to
2511 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Native American Education Improvement Act of 2001’.”

Short Title of 1988 Amendment

Pub. L. 100–297, title V, § 5101,Apr. 28, 1988, 102 Stat. 363, provided that: “This part [part A (§§ 5101–5120) of title V of Pub. L. 100–297, enacting sections
2008a,
2022a, and
2022b of this title, amending sections
2001 to
2005,
2008 to
2011, and
2019 of this title, repealing section
241bb–1 of Title
20, Education, enacting provisions set out as notes under section
2011 of this title and section
1411 of Title
20, and repealing provisions set out as a note under section
241aa of Title
20] may be cited as the ‘Indian Education Amendments of 1988’.”

“(a)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or Federal regulation, including section
586(c) of title
40, United States Code, the Director of the BIE [Bureau of Indian Education], or the Director’s designee, is authorized to enter into agreements with public and private persons and entities that provide for such persons and entities to rent or lease the land or facilities of a Bureau-operated school for such periods of time as the school is Bureau operated, in exchange for a consideration (in the form of funds) that benefits the school, as determined by the head of the school.

“(2) Funds received under paragraph (1) shall be retained by the school and used for school purposes otherwise authorized by law. Any funds received under paragraph (1) are hereby made available until expended for such purposes, notwithstanding section
3302 of title
31, United States Code.

“(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to allow for the diminishment of, or otherwise affect, the appropriation of funds to the budget accounts for the operation and maintenance of Bureau-operated schools. No funds shall be withheld from the distribution to the budget of any Bureau-operated school due to the receipt by the school of a benefit in accordance with this section.

“(b) Notwithstanding any provision of title 5, United States Code, or any regulation promulgated under such title, education personnel who are under the direction and supervision of the Secretary of the Interior may participate in a fundraising activity for the benefit of a Bureau-operated school in an official capacity as part of their official duties. When participating in such an official capacity, the employee may use the employee’s official title, position, and authority. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to authorize participation in political activity (as such term is used in section
7324 of title
5, United States Code) otherwise prohibited by law.

“(c) The Secretary of the Interior shall promulgate regulations to carry out this section not later than 16 months after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 23, 2011]. Such regulations shall include—

“(1) standards for the appropriate use of Bureau-operated school lands and facilities by third parties under a rental or lease agreement;

“(2) provisions for the establishment and administration of mechanisms for the acceptance of consideration for the use and benefit of a school in accordance with this section (including, in appropriate cases, the establishment and administration of trust funds);

“(3) accountability standards to ensure ethical conduct; and

“(4) provisions for monitoring the amount and terms of consideration received, the manner in which the consideration is used, and any results achieved by such use.

“(d) Provisions of this section shall apply to fiscal years 2012 through 2014.”

“(1) In general.—The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, is authorized to establish demonstration schools, based on the therapeutic model described in this section, to provide services necessary to achieve positive changes in the attitudes, behavior, and academic performance of Indian youth attending off-reservation boarding schools.

“(A) to provide a program, based on an annual written plan, linking clinicians, counselors, and mental health professionals with academic program personnel in a culturally sensitive residential program tailored to the particular needs of Indian students;

“(B) to provide for a continued evaluation of the planning and implementation of the therapeutic model in the designated schools; and

“(C) to determine what steps the Bureau of Indian Affairs must take and what resources are required to transform existing off-reservation boarding schools to meet the needs of chemically dependent, emotionally disturbed, socially troubled, or other at-risk Indian youth who attend such schools.

“(b) Location.—The Secretary shall initiate the therapeutic model at two schools during school years 1994 through 1996, and shall give priority to—

“(1) one school that is the recipient of a grant under section 5204 of the August [Augustus] F. Hawkins-Robert T. Stafford Elementary and Secondary School Improvement Amendments of 1988 [25 U.S.C. 2503] during the 1994–1995 school year; and

“(2) one school operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs during the 1995–1996 school year.

“(d) Staffing.—The demonstration schools shall be staffed with health and social service professionals, and educators, and may include—

“(1) clinical psychologists;

“(2) child psychologists;

“(3) substance abuse counselors;

“(4) social workers; and

“(5) health educators.

“(e) Enrollment.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of the Interior may limit the enrollment at the demonstration schools.

“(f) Assistance.—The Secretary is authorized to enter into agreements with other organizations and agencies, including the Indian Health Service, to carry out this section.

“(g) Report.—Not later than July 31 of each year, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit a report to the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Education and Labor [now Committee on Education and the Workforce] of the House of Representatives on the progress of the Department of the Interior in the development of the demonstration schools.”

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